The correspondence which has recently been appearing in these columns concerning the various issues of small money vouchers by local concerns provides an opportunity of referring to the present small money shortage, which is causing very considerable anxiety, and for which a remedy should be found at the earliest possible moment. Not only is a considerable degree of inconvenience caused, but the situation is likely '|to become grave on account of the hardships inflicted upon the poorer classes whose daily expenditure is to be stated in terms of cents, and not of dollars. It requires no great imagination to fancy the plight of the rickshaw coolie, for instance, whose net takings rarely exceed one dollar, and who out of that sum very often has to feed himself and his family. On the other hand, there is a comparatively enormous loss of business to the small trader through the reduced purchasing ability of his customers. It is common knowledge that hundreds of thousands of Chinese residing in Shanghai are paid such wages that a dollar represents anything from five per cent. to ten per cent. of their total monthly family income. In many cases it represents an even greater percentage. Not to be able to purchase anything for less than one dollar, without having returned to them as change pieces of paper, which may be used as part-payment for a seat in a cinema or a drink at one of the leading foreign hotels, is a very definite hardship for people whose scale of living embraces neither the cinema nor the hotel. It is true that these vouchers are gaining something in the nature of the status of currency for lack-of anything better. They can be passed on from one person to another, more often than not at a discount, which most of the Chinese sufferers cannot afford. They are thus again being milked of a proportion of their meagre incomes, not by those who have issued the coupons for their clients' convenience, but by those who make a commerce in the traffic of them.
Many explanations have been put forward as to how and why the present situation has arisen, and a number of theories as to where the small money has disappeared to. Which of them is correct need not be gone into here. The only important fact is that small money is not procurable save at a wholly iniquitous premium, clearly demonstrating the fact that much, if not all of the small currency is being hoarded for the wresting of further profit from the poorer sections of the community. It follows that if a practically unlimited supply of small money became available, the currency, which is at present held up in various exchange shops, and elsewhere, would very soon be turned loose on the market, and the ramp, which is most certainly in existence, would speedily be brought to an end with little or no profit to the manipulators. It would be possible for any or all the foreign banks to take upon themselves the burden of easing the situation for the benefit of the public of Shanghai, but there is no reason why they should. It has been suggested that the organization which could, and should take over the task is none other than the Shanghai Municipal Council, if only because it is one means of assuring that peace and good order which it is its duty to maintain, and which may- be gravely threatened if a remedy is not applied in time. The suggestion is not a new one. It was put forward some time ago when the shortage was first felt, but turned down for reasons which have not been made- public. It is argued that the scheme would be simplicity itself. All that would be necessary would be for the Council to put in hand the printing of small money notes, repayable in amounts of not less than one dollar, and issue them in exchange for Chinese national currency. The money so received would be held in a separate account for the redemption of the notes on presentation, and it follows that such an issue would have a one hundred per cent. backing. The initial cost should not be considerable, even though the paper, plates: and cost of printing, all of which than returned in the shape of unredeemed notes, and there might even ultimately be a profit. The only risk that would be run would be that of forgery. That is a risk attendant upon the issue of any form of currency note, but the small value of these particular notes reduces the risk, providing, of course, that they are not too cheaply produced. It is not overlooked that the Scheme would present some difficulties. If the Council has lost all its men who were familiar with banking, there are plenty of experts available in Shanghai to provide it with a scheme, and it is urged that whatever decisions were made a short while ago should be reconsidered. The very fact that it became known that the Council was prepared to adopt some such scheme would most probably operate in favour of its not becoming necessary, for hoarders would undoubtedly unload their holdings. If on the other hand it is not a question of the small money market being cornered the Council would have earned the gratitude of the poorer sections of the community by coming to their rescue in such a manner. The matter is one of very considerable l'urgency. A large amount of paper is already coming on the market, the status of which would at all times be inferior to the councils issue, and which would become unnecessary were the latter in fact made. The inconvenience and hardship to which the poorer sections of the community are being subjected, is a matter which. cannot be lightly set aside. It constitutes a danger to the peace and good order of this port, and that the Council are just as bound to safeguard by such a means as this, as they are to employ force in the same connection. There will always be the question of legality upon which some of the micro addicted sticklers so fondly rely. In the days when the Council showed more imagination, and initiative than is now demonstrated that point was met and faced. The Council has issued is own postage stamps in times of trouble, clubs their own books of rickshaw tickets which were undoubtedly used as currency, and, in view of these facts, a contention that the proposed issue cannot be made is not likely to be regarded as satisfactory.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.